R&D outlook positive despite economic turmoil, says poll

LONDON  The idea that a recession is the right time to invest in R&D is reflected in the findings of an EE Times Europe poll that sees a marginally positive outlook for R&D spending over the next year.

Readers were asked how they thought R&D spending would fare in 2009. The most frequent response, with 22 percent of the poll, was that R&D would intensify keeping spending high on narrower front. Another 21 percent said R&D spending would broaden and speed up. Some 16 percent of the poll took the middle ground that R&D spending would no different to previous years.

In what might be construed as negative territory 15 percent said that market exits by particular companies and consolidation would drive reduced R&D spending. A further 9 percent went further and took the position that there would be less money and what there was would have to be made to last longer.

Some 16 percent chose to say that companies would abandon spending on R&D and buy technology in from external sources.
The vote is a "straw poll" with a self-selecting audience. The next poll asks readers to consider whether chip manufacturing is a strategic interest of the European region and the degree to which it should be supported and maintained by governments here. Readers can vote in the left-hand column of the EE Times Europe.